Al-Hilal beat Al-Fayha 3:0 in the second round of the Saudi Pro League on Wednesday. The visitors took all three points at home soil and stayed top of the table after five matches. S. Milinkovic-Savic opened the scoring at 31 minutes, N. Al Dawsari added a second late on, and S. Mandash struck at the restart of the second half.
Al-Fayha had the better start in a way. Fashion Sakala picked up a yellow card at 27 minutes before Milinkovic-Savic crossed for the opener. The hosts thought they had levelled at 46 minutes when Mandash scored, but the goal counted for Al-Hilal. And here's the thing — the teams swapped sides at that point, so what looked like a home equaliser was actually away.
Al-Hilal controlled the game without always looking comfortable. They had 60 per cent possession and created 11 big chances, but their expected goals total of 3.93 suggests they wasted plenty. Crysencio Summerville missed a penalty at 81 minutes, and by then Al-Fayha had already done enough to feel aggrieved. The hosts managed only three shots on target with an xG of 0.32.
There were several changes at the 85-minute mark, with Al-Fayha bringing on Alfa Semedo, A. Lajami, and C. Summerville for M. Al Baqawi, M. Al Harbi, and S. Mandash. Al-Hilal responded by replacing Summerville with Al Dawsari, who scored in the 88th minute to close out the result. Lazaro and R. Neves also came off for the visitors earlier in the second half.
Al-Hilal remain unbeaten with 15 points after five matches, while Al-Fayha have dropped to 10th place with just five points. The hosts lost two of their last five games but had beaten Al-Adala 2:0 on their previous matchday. The result keeps Al-Hilal on course for another title race, though there is still a long way to go.
